SCALABLE MULTI-LAYER 2D-MESH ROUTERS

摘要

Architectures, apparatus and systems employing scalable multi-layer 2D-mesh routers. A 2D router mesh comprises bi-direction pairs of linked paths coupled between pairs of IO interfaces and configured in a plurality of rows and columns forming a 2D mesh. Router nodes are located at the intersections of the rows and columns, and are configured to forward data units between IO inputs and outputs coupled to the mesh at its edges through use of shortest path routes defined by agents at the IO interfaces. Multiple instances of the 2D meshes may be employed to support bandwidth scaling of the router architecture. One implementation of a multi-layer 2D mesh is built using a standard tile that is tessellated to form a 2D array of standard tiles, with each 2D mesh layer offset and overlaid relative to the other 2D mesh layers. IO interfaces are then coupled to the multi-layer 2D mesh via muxes/demuxes and/or crossbar interconnects.

主权项

1. A router chip comprising:
a plurality of input-output (IO) interfaces, disposed proximate to a periphery of the router chip; each IO interface comprising an IO input and an IO output; a first plurality of interconnect paths, configured in a first two-dimensional (2D) mesh comprising a plurality of rows and columns, each interconnect path operatively coupled at opposing ends to an IO input and an IO output for a pair of IO interfaces disposed on opposite sides of the router chip, wherein a given row or column of the 2D mesh includes a pair of interconnect paths configured to transfer data in opposite directions; a first plurality of router nodes, each disposed at a respective row and column intersection, wherein each router node is configured to route data along a path either in the same direction via which the data arrived at the node or turn the data to be routed along a path in a direction perpendicular to the direction via which the data arrived at the node; and a plurality of additional interconnect paths operatively coupled between nodes along the periphery of the first 2D mesh.